Nine new countries will be part of the Schengen zone starting in December by Corina Ciubotaru

Starting December 21st, the newest EU members will have open borders, which basically means their citizens will not need passports to cross into Schengen countries. The measure comes right before Christmas so the lines at borders may be shorter this year than they've been in a long time. The nine countries that will have their borders freed are Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Malta and have joined the EU together in 2004. They had to meet two conditions in order to enter the Schengen zone: they had to be part of a European system of databases containing data about vehicles, people and objects that cross various borders; and their own borders had to be deemed safe. After two years of inspections, the nine countries are now considered safe and their air space will also be free starting March 30th 2008. The measure, which will increase the Schengen zone's area to 3,600 million kilometres, is now expecting approval by the European Parliament. EU officials have declared the step to be one of great importance in the integration of former communist countries by reducing the isolation still caused by the former Iron Curtain. They will be joining the 13 EU members that form the Schengen zone along with non-members Iceland and Norway. Switzerland is going to enter the zone next year while Cyprus, also a member since 2004, has opted to stay out. Latest members Romania and Bulgaria are also expected to join the Schengen zone in a few years.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20071108/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_rules;_ylt=AiP.bx9fC_jRlcg2YQokhMOs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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